Art Imitates Life
by TStabler
Summary: What happens when two detectives finally confront their feelings? What happens when someone tries to rip them apart? And what happens when, the whole time, Munch believes they're being controlled by an old iPod Mini that a suspect left behind?
1. Goodbye?

**A/N: This is a cute little fluffy bunny that followed me home one day after I heard Miley Cyrus' Goodbye play randomly on my iPod. I didn't use the lyrics, it isn't a Songfic, but you can DEFINATELY tell that the fic is based on it, and it has a happy ending, I think. **

**E/O, because what else is there, really?**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Dick Wolf, Wolf Films and NBC. I own the rest of the "intellectual property" and the lovely dance I made the characters do, because Mr. Wolf won't. **

**AU-ish Thimgs: El and Kathy are divorced. I've taken some liberty with the character's ages (you'll see that in later chapters), and Liv and El have been partners for TEN years, even though we know it's TWELVE, but it's MY WORLD. They're just living in it.**

The clock-radio roared to life at exactly 5:02 AM, like it did every morning. This time, though, she groaned at the melody that blasted through its speaker. The song pained her. It was _their_ song. She rolled over, trying not to cry, and raised her hand to hit the snooze button. Instead, she did something that shocked even herself.

She turned it up, climbed out of the bed, padded out of the room grabbing her robe off of the back of the door on the way and headed into the bathroom.

She took a shower, just this side of scalding, as she sang along to the song, hoping her tears would wash away, down the drain with the sweat and the grime that a night in Manhattan had left on her skin. As the last bit of the chorus escaped her mouth, she brought her hand to her plump, cherry lips, and remembered.

She could still feel the heat from his lips on hers, the way their tongues had briefly but passionately wrestled for control and dominance. How she had to be the one to pull away first, and he had responded by pulling her back, kissing her twice as forcefully as he had before. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her head rested against the cool tiles as she relived the memory of him gripping her tightly in his arms, moaning against her mouth, swaying them gently, back and forth, as if they were dancing, even though there was no music playing.

None that anyone _else_ could hear anyway. There was certainly music in her mind at the time; she was hearing several angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus.

The song ended, as did her vivid memory, and she was brought out of her reverie when the water ran cold. She turned the dials, stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in her fluffy robe and quietly dressed for work, trying desperately to forget how that night had ended.

The part she hated to deal with, the part she wanted to forget with all of her heart and soul. The part where he hadn't even opened his eyes, but whispered "I love you. Goodbye," as he ran out of the room, leaving her alone, in the middle of his daughter. Maureen's engagement party, in shocked silence.

He hadn't mentioned it. She had been telling herself that he didn't remember any of it, that he'd been drunk off his rocker. It was, after all, a party. He was going through a divorce. Again. And he was entitled to a drink or two. Or nine. She was his escape. And then he escaped his escape. And then he never mentioned it again.

She was just grabbing her jacket and keys when her cell phone rang. She looked down at the screen and sighed. She hesitated. She answered it anyway. She had to.

"Benson."

"Hey, Liv. I'm outside. Do you need a ride to work?"

What the hell? Was she still dreaming? He hadn't made an effort to talk to her outside of work since that night two weeks ago. When they did talk at work, they usually ended up fighting, bickering, slapping each other around, or making lewd and crass jokes about each others asses. Your typical partnership.

"Um, I was going to walk."

"You are not walking. It's freezing out here. I have coffee," he said in a very tempting voice. She could practically see him waving the coffee cup at the phone and making a puppy-dog face.

"Sure. Thanks. I'll be down in a minute."

"Wait," he said.

Her heartbeat sped up and her breath hitched.

"What?" she asked, fearing what he might say.

"I remember. I know you don't think I do, but I do. I've just...been trying to figure out what to do about it, so I guess I just...um, we'll talk about it later." He hung up the phone with a grunt and a snap.

Shit.

Now she had to put makeup on and wear that body spray that he loved so much. She gave herself the quick 5-Minute Glam-Up, a skill with which all women are born, and ran out the door. She took a deep breath as she pushed open the front door to her building and headed toward his car. She opened the passenger side door and slid in, gratefully accepting the coffee from his gloved hand.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "So, uh, what exactly do you remember?"

He put the car into drive and stepped on the gas with a little more force than necessary, heading toward the 1-6. They would both be early for a change, since he was speeding.

"El?" she prodded.

"I remember when we kissed. God, Liv, every night before I go to sleep, it's like I can still feel you kissing me. When I open my eyes and you're not really there," he stopped, made a painful noise and ran a hand down his face, trying desperately not to look at her.

She looked at him. She understood exactly what he was talking about. "Oh," she said, sipping the coffee. It was perfect. Just the way she liked it. She still couldn't believe he knew her so well.

Elliot laughed a little. "That isn't the half of it. I remember dancing with you, Liv. There wasn't any fucking music, and I tried to dance with you. I _heard_ music." He stopped at a red light and said, almost under his breath, "I always hear music when you're around."

She couldn't breathe. Why was he saying all of this now, when they had a hard, horrifying case to work on? She didn't need the distraction. Or, maybe she did. Still, why now? Why not sometime within the last two weeks?

"Worst of all," he continued, "I remember saying...something...and then running away. I don't just run away."

"No, I do that. Right?" she asked.

"I didn't say that," he said dejectedly. He didn't want to fight with her. Not when he was trying to tell her something this important.

"No, you didn't. But you have said it in the past, El, and you're right. I'm the one who's always running away." She listed and counted on her fingers. "Fourth grade after my mother broke my arm, Oregon, after Gitano, I'm the one who's always leaving when things get too hard or uncomfortable. But, you know something? I wasn't going to run that night."

"No?"

"No." She smiled. A small one, though. "El, for the first time in a really long time I was actually," she paused. She looked at him and noticed that he was anxious, nervous even. She wasn't going to tell him. "Just forget it."

"No, what? You were actually what, Liv?"

She took a huge gulp of her coffee because suddenly, her throat was incredibly dry and she forgot how to speak. She cleared her throat, willing herself to say something and only one word clawed it's way through: "Happy."

The car pulled into a spot at the precinct, seemingly of its own volition because Elliot had stopped paying attention to the road the minute she said he'd made her happy.

"You don't regret it?" he asked, shocked, finally taking a breath and taking the chance and looking at her. His pulse raced when he saw how incredibly beautiful she looked.

She shook her head. "The only thing I regret is not running after you."

"Interesting, because the only thing I regret is saying..."

She closed her eyes and turned her head. "Wow. So, you didn't mean it. Is that why you wanted to drive me to work? To tell me that it was all a big mistake?"

His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? Liv?"

She panicked. Bad-Ass-Benson fucking panicked. "You regret saying it? El, you ran out of there so fast, I didn't get a chance to tell you, I would have said it back, but if you regret it, I'm certainly not going to say it now."

She opened the car door and exited the vehicle quickly, trying to catch her breath.

He, however, was very confused. Why would he have _wanted_ her to say _goodbye?_ His eyes widened slowly as he finally understood what she thought he meant. The realization, fear, and more of that regret hit him hard and fast.

"Oh, fuck me," he muttered under his breath as he burst out of his car and ran.

She was almost to the door of the building when he caught up to her.

"Shit, Liv," he said as he grabbed her shoulder, spun her around and kissed her. He pulled away, slowly, and looked her right in the wide, shocked, chocolate-brown eyes looking back at him.

"I regret saying goodbye! I regret running out like that! But I do not, for one single second, regret telling you that I love you."

She wasn't breathing. She wasn't blinking. She wasn't thinking. She was pretty certain she had just died, because there were those goddamned angels again, and she wasn't that religious.

"Say something, Liv."

"Hallelujah," she whispered.

He laughed and a very confused expression took over his face. "What?" he asked with a chuckle.

She shook her head, silently telling the angels that they should go fly somewhere else so she could think straight.

"I love you, too, El. I think, no, I know, I always have."

A wave of relief washed over him as he leaned in to kiss her again, but she backed away.

"What are you..."

"We should not kiss or hug or do anything that might give anyone any inclination that we are a couple within a fifty foot radius of the precinct, El," she warned. "I'm not about to lose you as a partner just so I can gain you as a boyfriend."

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her his characteristic cocky-Stabler-grin. "You really think they'll split us up over this?"

Now that she was relaxed, she slid back into her comfortable babbling self. "Not unless you go in there and tell Fin and Munch you love them, too."

He suppressed a gag, but couldn't hide the look of disgust and harsh laugh that came out of his mouth. "Um, I'll pass. So, we'll keep it a secret. At least until we can't anymore."

"Why wouldn't we be able to keep it a secret anymore?" she asked as she pulled the door open.

He held the door closed and looked around, making sure they were alone. He kissed her gently and whispered, seductively, "Because I have waited ten years for you. I don't want to wait too much longer before walking you down an aisle and giving you that baby you've always wanted. We could elope, of course, which I gotta admit would suck, but you can't, no matter how hard you try, hide a Stabler baby."

Her eyes widened, narrowed, and then she smirked. "You waited ten years for me? You were _married_ up until a year ago."

He laughed, sounding happier than he had been in a while. "I basically just proposed and said I wanted to knock you up and all you heard is that I was in love with you while I was married. You have selective hearing, Benson."

She pulled open the door and they walked into the building to face her day, which would be a little brighter, a little better, and a lot easier to handle. She had a renewed vigor and a skip in her step that hadn't been there for a long while. She, of course, would tell him that she'd waited ten years for him, too, and that she'd love to marry him one day, but for now, she was happy knowing his biggest regret was saying goodbye, and that he was man enough to do something about it. _Her _man.

The pair of eyes that angrily watched them enter the 1-6, that had seen them kiss three times and heard their sweet declaration of love, however, was about to make life very hard for Olivia Benson.


	2. Kiss Me

Five hours into the day, they had four suspects, no hard evidence for any of them, four victims and an empty pot of Munch's famous sludge. Munch drank it all by himself. The crew was so proud of him!

"Maybe it's like the Kennedy assassination," the resident conspiracy theorist said.

"They all worked together?" Fin loved his partner, really, but sometimes his theories were a bit out there.

"Yeah, think about it. They each have alibis for all but one of the victims, and coincidentally they are each other's alibis." Munch had a point.

"Hmm...maybe, but the DNA doesn't match any of them, so are we looking for a fifth? The magic bullet?" Olivia's eyes widened. "Now you've got me doing it!" She threw a slinky at him and laughed.

Fin leaned over and whispered to his partner. "Hey, you notice something different with Benson and Stabler?"

"Yeah, they aren't trying to kill each other today. They kissed and made up, big deal. It's the same _song_ and _dance _we've been witnessing for ten years, I'm used to it."

"No, it's different this time. Just watch them for a bit, man. You'll see what I'm talkin' 'bout."

"And they think I'm the one with the crazy theories," Munch mumbled. He sat back in his seat and observed Olivia and Elliot.

She looked at him and they both laughed at a joke that hadn't been told. Once they calmed down, he reached over to grab a file at the same time she did and their hands touched. They held their positions, gazing into each others eyes for a moment as Elliot brushed his thumb over Olivia's fingers. She let go of the file, letting him take it from her. And then she laughed again.

Munch, tired of watching absolutely nothing happen, grabbed the little blue device off of his desk and plugged it into the small stereo next to the coffee pot. "No one said we couldn't use it till he came back to claim it right? It's been here for weeks," he said when Fin gave him a questioning look.

"All right, but none of that Disney crap. If I had to hear that stupid Miley Cyrus song one more time this morning I was going to hit you with your computer monitor."

"All right," Munch replied as he scrolled through the songs. "Ah, here's one I think we'll all enjoy whilst looking through DD5's and reading files."

His bony finger pushed the play button and the only song anyone knew by Sixpence None the Richer came on, loud enough to be heard in the bullpen, but not so loud that they'd bother anyone else.

"_Kiss Me?_" Olivia asked. "I hate this song," she mumbled as she turned her attention back to the file on suspect number two.

"I dunno, Liv. It has certain endearing qualities." Elliot winked at her before reading his own file.

"The lyrics make no sense. She wants the guy who's supposed to kiss her under the moonlight to wear a flowered hat? Why does his father have a map leading them to a broken treehouse anyway?"

"Cynic." A bony finger pointed at her and shook. "You're cynical, Benson," Munch chided.

"Not cynical. Realistic. Name one guy who'd ever take a walk out into the middle of the woods in the freezing cold just to kiss his girlfriend while fireflies 'danced' and the full moon 'sparkled'." She made air-quotes with her fingers just to prove how silly the whole scenario seemed, but she was about to change her mind.

"Me."

"You?" She looked at her partner with one eyebrow raised and her head leaning to one side. "You hate the outdoors. You had to take Dickie's scout troop camping that one time and you lasted about fifteen minutes before you booked them all hotel rooms."

"I know, but I have this sudden, intense, desire to take...someone...outside, the park, midnight, and kiss her."

"El, you been eatin' that supermarket sushi again, bro?" Fin asked.

"No, I hate sushi. I feel fine. I just...wanna take this girl I'm seeing out for a walk later. Kiss her underneath the sparkling moon, or whatever, but I'm not wearing any flowered hat," he added quickly to keep it light.

Olivia just stared at him with wonderment and a twinkle in her eye as the men had a good laugh.

"Woah, so Stabler's on the rebound? When do we get to meet the girl? She's not as crazy as Kathy, is she? No offense, man, but I don't think any of us really liked her, and I know Baby-Girl over there hated her with a fiery passion," Fin remarked while he played with the slinky he'd picked up from Munch's desk.

"Hey, hey. Let's be fair," Olivia said, defensively. "El hated every guy I've dated, too. At least I've never run a _background check_ on Kathy. Or had her followed by the FBI. Kurt _still_ hasn't forgiven you, or me, for that."

Elliot shrugged. "Good. He'll stay away from you then, won't he?" She smiled at him and the gang had another good laugh.

* * *

Captain Cragen was flummoxed as he watched his best detectives from the window in his office. He had never seen either one of them so happy and it made him both happy and concerned. He knew this day would come, and he had prepared for it, but he also knew that someone wouldn't be very happy once word got out. He wouldn't be able to protect them from personal backlash the way he could protect them from IAB's anal-probes. He could only stop it if one of them was ever attacked, and he prayed it wouldn't come down to that.

He closed the blinds, walked over to his phone and dialed the one number he hoped he'd never have to use.

* * *

The rest of the shift was rough, a few more interrogations and they got their perp. He confessed when Stabler and Benson teamed up and convinced him that his buddies were rolling on him. It took three hours, but he told them the whole story, with no remorse at all.

The cold night air hit Olivia like a ton of bricks. Her teeth chattered and she shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket. She started walking in the direction of her apartment when she heard his voice.

"Hey, uh-uh." She felt a gentle tug on her arm, and she turned to meet a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. "We are going to the park, remember? I'm eager to start catching up on those, what, nine dates?"

He wrapped his arm through hers and linked their hands, entangling his fingers with hers. As they walked toward their destination, he leaned closer to her, breathing in her scent. He nuzzled into her neck and moaned a bit.

She peered down at him with a simper, her eyes narrowed and she whispered in his ear, "Trying to get lucky, Stabler?"

"That depends. How am I doing so far?" He looked up at her and wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, having a hard time remembering the last time she felt this light and cheerful. Her heart was full. The piece that was missing for the last ten years had finally been given back to her.

They walked, hand in hand, through the gates of Central Park, oblivious to the heavy footsteps behind them. Elliot pulled her gently toward a small clearing, where the moonlight was shining brightly, almost like a spotlight.

"Here," he said. "This is perfect." "This is crazy, and it's cold," she said with a giggle. "But, it is very romantic. No one's ever done anything like this for me before."

"I've never done anything like this for anyone before. You bring out the hopeless romantic in me, Liv."

He pulled her closer to him, and started swaying, dancing to the melody that only he could hear. He looked up at the moon, then back down at her, and kissed her. Sweetly at first, chaste, but when he ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she gasped enough to open her mouth a little, the kiss became heated, strong, filled with ten years of emotion that, until now, they hadn't been able to express.

Watching from the shadows, the eyes blinked, and a tear fell. It was never like that when_ they_ were together, even _these_ eyes could see that what Olivia and Elliot had was something special, and they were both truly happy. But, it didn't stop the hurt or the anger or the need for revenge. The gun was raised, and shots were fired, but thank God the shooter had horrible aim.

"Holy shit, get down," Olivia yelled as she pulled him to the ground with her.

"Where is that coming from?" he asked, instinctively covering her body with his and pulling them behind a rock.

Shit. The shooter, whose eyes had gone red, ran out of the park, dropping the gun.

Olivia took a deep breath, looked at Elliot and started to laugh hysterically.

He looked at her as if she had five heads. "What the hell is funny about this, baby? We were just shot at!"

She nodded, still laughing. "I know. I've heard of people kissing and feeling waves crashing, seeing stars, fireworks. Leave it to us to get gunfire."

He looked at her, sitting there laughing, and he felt the tug at the corners of his mouth begging him to smile. He did, then he laughed.

"That is something that would only happen to us, huh?" he asked.

"Yep," she said, looking up into the eyes she loved so much. "You just called me 'baby' by the way."

"Uh, um...yeah." He nodded. "Not gonna deny it. Not gonna apologize."

She rose to her feet, brushed her pants off, and looked around, spotting the shiny silver shotgun on the ground a few feet to their right. "Good," she said not looking at him, but at the gun. "I liked it." She stepped forward, reached into her pocket and took out a latex glove, laying it over her hand but not putting it on. She lifted the gun up gently, putting it into an evidence bag she pulled out of her other pocket.

"Jesus, Liv, are you ever unprepared?" Elliot asked as he, too, got up and walked toward her.

"Nope," she said with a wink. "And that's one of the reasons you love me, right?"

He nodded, pulling her into another searing kiss. "One of about a million, baby."

"A million? Really?"

"Yeah, I'll show you when we get home," he said as he grabbed her hand and led her out of the park.

"We have work in the morning. We don't have time for you to show me a million things..."

The way he turned, slowly, and the look he gave her, smoldering, narrowed eyes, a lick of the lips and a cocky grin, sent her senses into overdrive. Every hair on the back of her neck stood at attention. She had goosebumps. Her goosebumps had goosebumps. She was turned on beyond belief, from the way he was _looking _at her.

"Well, Liv, no one said I was going to get through _all _of them tonight. We've got time enough, though, for me to show you how much I love the first hundred things about you."

"Kiss me," she whispered. She didn't think he could hear her, but he took a step toward her, wrapped his arms around her and did just that.

**A/N: Authors love feedback. I am no exception. That big green button likes to be clicked. In fact, it might purr. =) Thanks for reading! Chapter 3 will be up soon!**


	3. I'll Make Love To You

**A/N : A bit of background on Maureen's engagement, and what was Cragen making that phone call for? Also, there is a bit of, what some might call SMUT, ahead. But, I don't think it's SMUTTY, I think it's rather lovely =) As usual, a song is involved, but it's not a songfic. On with the show! **

Fin walked into the bullpen from the hallway with two soda cans, handing one to Munch, as his partner grumbled over his computer. "Oh, come on, Grumpy. It ain't that bad. Benson and Stabler were in the pit for hours with that punk-ass getting a confession. The least we can do is stay here and finish the paperwork."

"Yeah, I guess. But, now that they're gone, I'm turning the music up." He swiveled in his chair and turned the knob a few notches to the right, raising the volume.

"_Boys To Men?_ Munch, we need to find the owner of that thing before I shove it down your throat." Fin slumped in his chair and started typing diligently.

Munch chuckled as he tried to ignore the romantic tune while talking to his very butch partner. "So, Stabler's seeing someone. Who do you suppose..."

"Benson. No question, man," Fin said with a smirk. "Not a doubt in my mind."

Munch simply shook his head and sighed. "I don't think so." Though, he did. Ever since they became partners, there was always just something _there._ He tried to shake the image of his two best friends out of his mind, especially as the chorus to the song kicked in. "Type fast. I wanna get outta here before sunrise."

_**Meanwhile...**_

Olivia and Elliot had just made themselves comfortable, snuggled together beneath a blanket on her couch with some wine, and found a tolerable movie on the television that didn't have Colin Farrel, Will Farrel or some other Farrel in it.

"Hey," she asked turning her head a bit to look up at him. "I never asked how you're handling this whole Maureen and Jacob thing."

"Oh, well, I guess I'm just glad she's getting married _before_ finding out she was having a baby, unlike Kathy and I did at her age." He sipped his wine and placed a kiss on the top of Olivia's head, which was resting on his shoulder. "She's marrying out of love. I married her mother out of responsibility. Hopefully, it will be a very long engagement."

"Her age doesn't bother you? She's only eighteen. He's twenty, El. You didn't try to stop her or..."

"Liv, I knew that if I said anything she'd hate me or run away to get married anyway, so I gave her and Jake my blessing." He took another sip of the wine. That was some good stuff right there. "Besides, when you're with the right person, the one you truly want to spend the rest of your life with, you just know," he said peering down into her deep brown orbs.

"Ain't that the truth," she said with a sparkle in her eyes and a smirk playing at her lips.

Suddenly, Elliot felt funny. Not _sick _funny, not _clown-ha-ha_ funny, but _funny_ funny. His eyes darkened, two shades, making them a deep midnight blue.

Olivia, still looking at him, was taken aback. She'd never seen his eyes so dark before, and didn't know whether she was more turned on or afraid.

"Liv, I'm going to ask you a question, and I need you to be incredibly honest. And you have to answer fast, okay?"

"What?" she asked, gulping.

"How fast is _too_ fast? I mean, it's _us_ we're talking about. I feel like we've been _married_ for ten years, I mean, I know you better than I knew my ex-wife. But, I don't wanna rush this, or push you, or fuck anything up," he babbled, never taking his eyes off of her.

Breath wasn't coming fast enough for her and she knew that if she said anything now it would not be in the English language. She made some kind of weird noise, looked up at him and blinked. She finally grew a new brain and managed to say, "What exactly are you talking about here, El?" Scared, and a bit nervous, she reached for her glass and started drinking.

He pushed the blanket off of them and leaned into her, closing his eyes, inhaling the scent of her body spray. He loved that shit. It was like a drug. He'd found it in the store once, he bought it for Kathy and forced her to wear it whenever they went out, but it wasn't the same. Something about the way it smelled on _Olivia_ was intoxicating.

"When was the last time someone made love to you, Liv?"

Her eyes widened and she choked on her last sip of wine. "Excuse me?"

"Not sex. I'm not talking about just sex. I wanna know, the last time someone took the time to hold you, worship you, care about you more than himself. When was that?" He took the wine glass out of her hand and set it down on the table, then grabbed her hand, held it gently, kissed it, then slowly peppered it with small pecks, trailing them up her arm, slowly, until he reached her shoulder. He nuzzled the crook of her neck, finding a spot that made her purr. He suckled the tiny area, nibbling and biting and licking until she was writhing beneath him like a squirming caterpillar.

"That would be too long ago to actually remember," she responded, "If ever."

"Liv," he said as he looked up from her neck, "I'll make love to you, the way you deserve, the way I've dreamed about for ten long and tortuous years, if you want me to, if you'll let me."

His eyes were filled with love and need and desire and the tiniest bit of lust. She knew that this wasn't hormone-driven, but this was coming from his heart. Who was she to deny him?

Hell, who was she to deny _herself_? She was hornier than a fucking Triceratops right now, and all he'd done so far was talk like a goddamned poet and find the spot on her neck that drove her mad. The spot that only the quarterback from high-school had ever found. _This man_ could drive her crazy without even trying. She loved him with everything she had, and he clearly wanted to show her that he loved her just as much.

"Jesus, El. Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

He chuckled, a deep, low, laugh, right in her ear, that drove her insane with desire. "If it's anything like what you're doing to me, then yes. And I'm not sorry at all." He smirked, nuzzled her nose with his and kissed her, igniting a fire so deep in her belly that she thought, for sure, she would implode on the spot. She'd heard about spontaneous combustion but now, she was pretty positive she was about to experience it.

He scooped her up in one arm, lifting her off the couch, never breaking the kiss. He fumbled and tripped over the piles of books and pairs of shoes that littered the hallway but he eventually made it to the bedroom relatively unscathed. He kicked the door open, still kissing his darling Liv, and placed her delicately on the bed. He stood back and looked at her for a moment.

"What?" she asked breathlessly. "Are you changing your mind, here? Because..."

"Hell no, baby, I'm just...you are so beautiful." As he pulled his shirt over his head he let out another low chuckle. "Are you ready? It's gonna be a long night."

She propped herself up on her elbows and let him unzip her black pants, and as he slid them over hips she asked, "Isn't that a song lyric?"

"No idea, just warning you that it's going to be a long night." He ran his hands up and down her smooth, silky legs, dropping kisses in the same path his hands had taken.

She reached down and pulled him up, her strength unsurprising as she flipped them over. She grinned at him as she unzipped his jeans and mimicked his actions, pulling his pants down and tugging them off, throwing them over her shoulder. They'd find them in the morning.

"Liv," he began, but he stopped when he watched her pull her pink tank top over her head, leaving her naked and exposed to him. Why had he not noticed she wasn't wearing a bra? Wasn't it his job, as a man, to realize these things? Maybe it had been sewn into the top. Why was he thinking about bras when he was gazing at this exquisite creature in front of him?

She crawled, like a panther stalking its prey, over and above him until they met, hip to hip, face to face, and she bent forward to kiss him.

"Make love to me, El," she whispered into his ear as she bit his earlobe gently, tugging, then kissed her way down his neck.

He growled. The man actually growled. He rolled them over, pinning her arms at her sides. "All night long, over and over again," he said against her lips as his hand snaked down and tried to remove her thin, silky, boy cut briefs, which were now soaked and useless anyway. He tugged gently twice, then gave her an evil glare before ripping them off of her otherwise naked form.

"Oops." He shrugged as he wiggled out of his own shorts. "I'm not usually one for foreplay, Liv, but I told you before, I'm showing you how much I love you, How much you deserve to be loved. This is about you," he said as he bent his head down and took a perky nipple into his mouth, holding it gently between his teeth while sucking ever-so-gently.

The noise she made was music to his ears, and he needed to hear it again. His right hand slid down her side, tickling enough to tease her but not enough to kill the mood, and came to rest right above her hot, wet core.

"Never thought you'd be the waxing type, Liv," he said with a mouthful of nipple. The vibration from his voice only added to the amazing sensations rippling throughout her body.

He let one finger slide through her folds, testing the waters for lack of a better term, and he let out a harsh gasp as he let go of her breast with a pop. "Shit, Liv, you are incredibly wet," he said smirking. He was thrilled that he'd been the one to have that effect on her.

"Hmmm, I know that, Detective, but thank you for giving me the update. Have the DD5 on my desk in the morning." She swiveled her hips and giggled.

He chuckled, loving the way their playful banter found its way into the bedroom. "Brat." He slipped his finger into her and she gasped, rolling her eyes backward into her head, as if trying to see what the back of her skull looked like.

"No, no, Liv, look at me. I need you to look at me," he cried. She blinked and forced herself to look at him, as hard as it was to keep her eyes open and focused, she did it.

Gazing into her eyes, another strong, masculine finger joined its friend and Elliot twisted his wrist in an agonizingly slow fashion. He swiped his thumb over the tiny, hooded, bundle of nerves that had been crying for attention since they began and Olivia's back arched. She let out a sexy moan and a girly squeal, her eyes never closing, her gaze never leaving Elliot's.

"Let go, Liv." She shook her head, biting her bottom lip. He grinned at her like the Cheshire Cat and said, seductively, "More than one way to skin a cat, baby." He moved, slowly, down the bed, down the length of her body, before his head was in the same position as his hand. She shook with anticipation, and her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do.

The cry that was ripped from her throat as his tongue lapped at her center, in perfect rhythm with the thrusting of his fingers, was enough to make him reach an untimely finish himself, but he waited, for an eternity it seemed, for this night. He wasn't going to blow it. Literally.

Olivia gripped the sheets beside her so tightly her knuckles turned white. "God, Liv, you taste incredible. I want more. Just let go," he coaxed, moving his fingers faster, swiping his thumb over her clit again and licking every inch of her juicy core.

"Like hell, Stabler."

"What are you waiting for, Liv?" He knew she was stubborn, but this was ridiculous. He went for broke and sucked directly on her clit, earning a yelp and a squeak and, he believed, a string of Russian cuss words.

"You." She thrashed her head to the siade and looked down at him, grabbing the back of his head and gripping tightly to the short hair she could reach. "You said, oh God, Jesus, you said this was about me, right? What I, sweet mother of God, want?"

He nodded, licking and thrusting, smirking at the fact that his Liv had finally found religion.

"Well, what I want, more than anything, is for you to be inside me when you make me cum for the first time."

That seemed to be all of the persuasion he needed. He stopped his ministrations, quite abruptly, making Olivia whimper, and crawled back up so that he was eye level with his lover.

Looking deeply into his eyes, she reached between their sweaty bodies and grabbed his hardened length, shocked at its size and its girth, but trying not to show it. She stroked it gently, causing Elliot to moan and hum, and she smiled at him.

"I love you, Liv, more than I have ever loved anyone." He looked into her eyes, penetrating her very soul and repeated, "_Anyone._" Why he felt the need to clarify, he wasn't sure. She had only ever known one person he "loved" and she already knew he never truly, deeply loved her.

She moved slightly to the right, scooted down a bit, since he was quite a bit taller than her, and positioned him at her entrance. She looked back at him and said, "I love you, too, El. So much."

He kissed her passionately as he slid into her, meeting some resistance, having to stretch her a bit, going slowly and gently. He felt her leg wrap around his thigh and pull, trying to get him deeper, so he gave her what she wanted. He pushed into her a bit more, slowly, not wanting to hurt her, kissing her the whole time. When he was finally sheathed completely, he groaned into her mouth and she moaned into his. She reached up and wrapped one hand around his neck and the other around his back, digging into his muscular shoulder blade. She pulled away from their endless kiss, letting a single tear fall from her eye, and said "Move, baby."

And move he did, in miraculous and heavenly ways. All of their training and workouts must have given them both incredible endurance.

But, when Elliot Stabler made Olivia Benson scream in pleasure, someone hanging out on the street below was waiting for the right moment to make her scream in pain.

* * *

The song ended just as Munch completed his final DD5.

"Thank God," cried Fin. "They're a talented group of fellas, but how long can you drone on and on about makin' love to your lady and holding her tight. The damn chorus repeated, like, eight times, man!" Fin rose from his seat and jerked the white plug out of the end of the MP3 player roughly.

"Well, take that up with the person who wrote it, not the innocent iPod."

"Oh, I ain't gonna hurt the iPod. I'm gonna hurt your skinny ass if you don't find some decent music to play on that thing. Do you have any idea who left it here? We had fifteen teenagers in here over the last three weeks."

"Nope," Munch said. "Does it belong to any of the lawyers who've been in and out?"

"Novak called all of them, and there's a flyer circulating. If no one claims it, we've got ourselves a new toy." Fin grimaced as he looked at the electric blue contraption. "Maybe if we upload some decent tunes," he shrugged.

"I know I'm the one using it, but something about this thing gives me the creeps, Fin. You saw what it did to Stabler. It made him wanna take a walk into the park with some girl."

"Not some girl, Munch. _Benson_." Fin said, as if it was obvious, and he laughed. "And of course, you would be the one to say it, Munch. But, what harm could possibly come from using an iPod?"

Munch shrugged as he unplugged the radio and turned off his light. He walked with Fin out of the bullpen, shouting their goodbyes to the captain.

"Good night," Cragen yelled. "No, sorry, just saying goodbye to my detectives," he said back into the phone. This was the sixth call he needed to make. He could not believe how difficult this was. "Now, sir, I know you're going to think I'm crazy but I need to put trackers on two people who should be considered armed and dangerous. Why? Because they've got their sights set on two of my detectives."

**A/N: Again, thanks for reading. I'm an actual writer, I have full-length novels in the works. (not SVU related, of course.) Any feedback is appreciated. Make that little green button squeal like a piggy? **


	4. TwoSong Shuffle

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! Don't fret, all will be revealed shortly. I like to take my time, ha ha. For those that have asked, Liv is 34, El is 36. Maureen, as mentioned, is 18, I have chosen to make Kathleen 16, and the twins 12 and I haven't decided if Eli even exists, yet. **

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, all of the characters still belong to Dick Wolf, Wolf Films and NBC. **

"So, finally the farmer walks over to the big pile of potatoes and says, 'I know you're back there. Come on out.' and the blonde says, 'poootaaaatoooo'." Munch began laughing hysterically at his own joke while Fin stared, unamused.

"It took you five minutes to tell me that joke and it wasn't even funny," Fin said with a serious expression. "Man, I should arrest your skinny ass. I feel like a special victim right now."

"Leave him alone, Fin, a bad sense of humor isn't a crime. It should be, but it isn't." She handed them both steaming cups of coffee, placed one on Elliot's desk and one on hers. She took off her leather jacket, hung it up and slid into her seat.

"Well, good morning Baby-Girl," Fin said with a smile. "You're looking bright eyed and..."

"If you say anything about her having a 'bushy tail', I'll kick your ass from here to Little Italy."

"And good morning to you too, Stabler." Munch scrunched up his nose and sniffed. "Fin, do you smell that? I think...yes...it's...the smell of the devil handing out pistachio ice cream in hell! They're actually both happy!"

"A good night's sleep will do that to you," Fin said. "You clocked out around midnight so I'm guessing you both got a few extra hours."

Olivia shook her head, sipping her coffee as she turned on her monitor, booting up her computer. "No, actually. I didn't sleep a wink." She paused, looking at Munch, then at Fin, then at Elliot. "I did, however, get the workout of my life this morning."

"Ah, endorphins. That's it. Endorphins, released during exercise, make you happy. Almost euphoric," Munch offered, plugging in the iPod.

"Yea, that must be it," she said sarcastically, glancing at Elliot.

"Benson," Captain Cragen yelled from his office. "In here. Now."

She looked around, confused, and then got up and marched into the large, foreboding office.

"You too, Stabler," Cragen ordered.

"Uh-oh," Elliot muttered. Had they not been discreet enough? He hadn't so much as tapped her on the shoulder during work hours. He followed Olivia into the office, closing the door behind them and sat in one of the chairs. Olivia, he noticed, had chosen to stand.

"The gun you dropped off last night," he held it up, sealed in a new bag. "I ran it, and we got a hit. It came back registered to Officer Joseph Stabler. Either of you have any idea how that happened?"

Elliot's face paled and Olivia's eyes widened. Someone had tried to shoot them with his father's old duty weapon? "Um, sorry, sir. My father hid all of his guns because my mother is...not a stable woman. And after he died, we gave them back to the force. Or I thought we did. Kathy had them all in a box when we helped my mother move..." he stopped and looked up at his boss, then to Olivia, who he instinctively pulled closer to him. "Do you think Kathy did this?"

"I don't know what to think, Elliot. I'm just telling you that this is your father's gun. No prints. Whoever was shooting at you wore gloves." He looked at his shining stars and narrowed his eyes. "Notice how I'm not asking what you were doing in the middle of Central Park at one o'clock in the goddamned morning?"

"Yes, sir," Olivia said in an official fashion.

"I will simply tell IAB that you were talking about a case, and it was a nice night, and you like to think in the park," he said as he nodded curtly at them. "However, someone needs to go ask Kathy where the box with your father's guns went."

"Sir, I don't think..." Olivia began.

"Under the circumstances, neither do I, Benson. Detective Hudson from Homicide is going to do it." Cragen offered a small, comforting smile. "Whoever tried this has balls, attempting to take you two out. Even bigger ones for trying it on my watch."

"Thanks, Cap," Elliot said. Olivia nodded in agreement and they left his office. As they stepped into the squadroom, they heard the song blasting from the radio. Olivia shook her head and rolled her eyes, slinking back into her chair.

"_Lifehouse_, honestly. After a while all of their songs start to sound exactly the same." She turned her head and trained her eyes on the screen as she scrolled through hundreds of mugshots, trying to match one to the sketch made from the description from their newest vic. Elliot, however, found that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take his eyes off of Olivia.

Munch poked Fin with a pencil. "Stop it, man, I'm workin' here." He poked him harder, faster. "If you don't cut it out," Fin grabbed the pencil and looked up, but Munch was looking at Elliot. Fin followed his gaze and watched.

Elliot was typing up a DD5, very rapidly, but staring intently at Olivia. He stopped, got up and walked over to the filing cabinet, eyes still focused on the woman in the chair, and he didn't care that he'd nearly tripped over things, walked into a few walls or almost completely missed his chair, he simply could not take his eyes off of her.

"Okay, I've tried to ignore it, really. Is there something in my teeth, or my hair? Do I have some sort of bug on me? Why are you staring..." she paused as she looked at him, because she saw a look in his eyes that, even after their amazing night and passionate morning, she hadn't seen.

"I believe to have fate this with you love like mine, " he said. He furrowed his brow, confused. "Um, that didn't really come out right, did it?"

"I don't even think that was English, man," Fin said from across the room.

"You wanna try that again?" Munch asked.

Olivia shot them both a warning glare, one that she usually reserved for uncooperative perps. They eased back into their chairs and stayed silent.

"Nevermind." Elliot said. "Liv, I don't why, but I can't take my eyes off of you."

Munch's head snapped around to the radio and he hit the little arrow, forcing the next song to play. Almost as soon as the song switched, Elliot was able to relax and shift his eyes back to the computer screen. "Ha!" Munch shouted, a little too loudly.

"What the hell, man?" Fin asked.

He leaned over to Fin and in a harsh whisper he replied, "The iPod made Elliot stare at Olivia. It was the song!"

Fin stared at Munch for a whole minute, unmoving. "Okay, Baby-Girl, did you put LSD in Munchkin's coffee?" Fin asked holding up the cup between his thumb and forefinger.

"Whatever you're all doing, you need to drop it. Beson, Stabler, you two are heading out to this address," he handed them a slip of paper. "You want to talk to a Gio Vittaro, he's just been accused of raping a nineteen year old, she's at Mercy General. Fin, Munch, you two are going to talk to the girl, and hopefully the rape kit will be enough to nail the son of a bitch."

They rode to the house in the Bronx in silence, sharing small, knowing smiles and laughs. As they parked the car and got out of the vehicle, Olivia felt a chill run down her spine. It wasn't from the cold. She rested her hand on her gun, just in case, because something told her that she might need it.

"Elliot, knock on the door." She used his full name. Something wasn't right with that. He did as he was told, and when the door opened, Olivia couldn't help it, she raised her gun.

"Wow. Is that really necessary?"

"Um, I think it is. Gio Vittaro. Is he here? This is his address, isn't it?" Olivia asked. Apparently, she would have to do all of the talking, since Elliot had lost the ability to speak.

"It is, but he isn't here. He's at work. What is this about? Could you please lower the damn gun, Olivia?"

"Nope, sorry. See, someone tried to kill us last night, and it could have been anybody, so I'm not taking any chances. Where does he work?"

"Are you two okay? You aren't hurt are you? Do you have any leads? Oh, my God." Whether it was genuine concern, or a really good act, Olivia couldn't tell. "We're both just fine. Thanks. Where does he work?" She asked again. "It's important."

"He's a chef at the Blue Galleon, Forty-Sixth and Ninth. Now, please, tell me what this is all about?"

Elliot found his voice, which was now laced with disdain and hatred. "He raped a nineteen year old girl, Kathy." He leered at her, leaned in and said harshly, through gritted teeth, "If I find out you let that bastard near any of my kids, I'll have you thrown in jail for child endangerment." He pulled Olivia away from the door and down the steps, leaving Kathy on the stoop looking horrified with tears in her eyes.

"El," Olivia started, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Not now, Livvy." He shrugged her off and got into the car, gruffly, slamming the door. Livvy? What the hell was that? No one had ever called her that, and she's quite certain that, if they had called her that, she would have slugged them right in the kisser. She holstered her gun, got into the car and stayed silent as they sped toward the restaurant, with a new reason to want this man to suffer greatly.

Olivia's phone rang, and she answered it in her usual professional manner, saying nothing more than her last name. "Oh, well, that makes life easy, don't it? Listen, um, Munch, maybe you and Fin should take this..."

"Like hell, Liv. I'm talking to that fucker," Elliot roared.

"Okay, Munch, forget I said anything. We'll meet you back at the house. Okay." She snapped her phone shut and looked at Elliot. "Breathe, baby." Knowing they were safe from prying eyes, she laid a hand behind his head and eased some of the tension out of his neck.

"Yeah," he whispered as he took a deep breath. He exhaled. "So, what was that?"

"Just go back to the station. Vittaro was at Mercy, too. He was fleeing the scene when a bike messenger clipped him. As soon as he was stitched up, Fin cuffed him."

* * *

By the time they got Vittaro into the interrogation room, Fin and Munch had DNA results and were resting comfortably in their desks. Fin was scrolling through the iPod when he found a song he deemed appropriate. "Hey, this song's called 'Awfully Quiet for an Interrogation," he said with a chuckle. "Some band named _My Lady Four._" Munch reached over to try and stop him. "No, Fin, don't play with that thing. I'm telling you, it's possessed."

"You're possessed," Fin spat back as he pushed the play button. "Hmm, interesting beat. Not sure what it has to with interrogations though."

"You have been warned. Wait, my friend, and you shall see that the song has affected the young ones," Munch said cryptically, pointing in the direction of the interrogation room.

* * *

Elliot looked at Olivia. She looked back at him. Neither one was smirking, blinking, moving a single muscle. More importantly, neither one was talking. Sure, Elliot had yelled and screamed and asked questions, but suddenly he stopped, calmed down, and leaned against the wall. It seemed they were both giving Vittaro the silent treatment.

"Say something, please, just say something! I did it, okay, I'll tell you everything. I'm sleeping with that crazy bitch, I've never even met her kids, I forced Tanya to have sex with me, and three other girls, too. I'll give you their names, but why aren't you saying anything? Shouldn't you be threatening me? Trying to make me a deal? I watch COPS, and NCIS, and CSI and that other show with the letters, with the hot cop lady. You're supposed to _talk _to me. Heather Lowenstein, Rachel Browning and Cynthia Dunbom. See? See? I told you I would tell you. Will you say something now?"

Gio Vittarro rambled on and on as Olivia and Elliot rose from their positions on the table and left the room. Cragen was waiting for them behind the two-way mirror in the observation pit with a smirk on his face. "Well, that was awfully quiet for an interrogation." The two detectives shrugged. "Elliot, I thought you'd be harder on him seeing as how he's sleeping with your ex-wife."

"Exactly. Ex-wife, Cap. I don't care what she does as long as my kids are safe, and you heard him. He never even met them."

Olivia patted Elliot on the shoulder, as he took a yellow pad back into the room to get a written statement from Vittaro. She walked out into the squadroom, enjoying the silence. "Battery finally die in that thing?"

"No, Munch thinks it's some kind of Vulcan-Transformer sent from the planet Krypton to control you and Stabler, so he turned it off."

"Ah, okay then," Olivia said, as if that was totally acceptable. Her desk phone rang at that moment. "Benson." There was a minute of silence as she listened to the man on the other end. "What? Are you serious? How the hell? No, sir, I did not! Absolutely. Well, thank you. Was anything else...no? Anyone hurt? Okay, well, thank you, I will." She slammed the phone down just as the captain and Elliot came back into the bullpen and a uniformed officer dragged Vittaro out in cuffs.

"Holy shit," she said as her head dropped into her waiting hands.

Elliot ran over to her and wrapped an arm around her, remaining as professional as he could. "What happened, ba-Liv?" He almost called her "baby" in front of his entire squad, and his captain, and while that would have been embarrassing, now he had to live with the fact that he just called her something that sounded like "bay-Liv" and no one was about to think that he called her "bailiff". They weren't in court.

"That was my landlord. At around four o'clock, the whole building heard this loud bang, but nothing happened, ya know? No fire, no reports of anyone being hurt, no structural damage, so they all went on with their lives. But, ten minutes later he got a complaint from my downstairs neighbor that water was leaking into her apartment from mine. He knew I was at work, so he went up to check for me, and when he opened the door..." she choked on her words, trying not to cry or show that she was scared. "El, someone blew up my apartment. Everything's destroyed."

Cragen was fuming. These parasites were upping the stakes, and if they wanted to play rough, then he'd play rough with them. "Elliot take her back to your place, stay with her, don't let her out of your sight."

"Duh," was Elliot's only reply. He scooped her into his arms, wrapped her jacket around her and held her close as they walked out.

"Munch, Fin, Call the Bomb Squad, but I want you down there with them." He stormed off, into his office, and picked up the phone, dialing the familiar number of a man he despised, but who swore to help. He got the man's voicemail. "Hey, It's Don Cragen, again. Whatever you're doing isn't working, and thanks to your lack of skill, Benson's apartment has been blown to bits so either you're not working this as hard as you should be or you're..." he stopped, mid-sentence, as a horrid realization hit him. He hung up the phone and squeezed his eyes tight. He finished his thought, out loud, to the empty office "In on it."

He picked up the phone again, making another call, calling in another favor, hoping he could repair the damage that had been done and prevent any more havoc from being wreaked. At least no one involved knew where Elliot's new apartment was, so, for the moment, they were safe. He struggled to breathe and slow down his beating heart. In an effort to save his detectives' lives, he might have signed their death certificates.

**A/N: Green button thinks you're pretty. Green button likes it when you click it. **


	5. UpLoad Yours!

**A/N: This chapter's a little different. You'll see why. =) How many lyrics and titles can you spy with your little eye? Fin gives a little hint, and gets something in return, in the end. **

**DISCLAIMER: All rights, characters and SVU belong to Dick Wolf. I still don't own anything but the plot, but when I do... (evil laughter) **

Fin walked into his apartment and tossed his jacket on the tattered leather chair. He looked around and sighed. "Be it ever so humble, right?" he said to no one. He walked over to the computer and wiggled the mouse, bringing the contraption out of its slumber. He then, with a great chuckle, brought the bright blue, box-like robot out of his pocket.

After the mess he had sifted through at his best friend's apartment, or what was left of it, he needed to take his mind off of things. There were several small charges in strategic locations. Under the bathtub, under the kitchen sink, under the bed, under the couch, places where she would have been sitting, standing or lying down.

When he walked into her bedroom and had the panic attack, when he started mumbling about what would have happened if Olivia had been home, Munch sent him away. So, here he was, plugging in the "sinister" iPod, diverting his attention by deleting the crap that was on it and uploading some choice tunes that would make the SVU crew rock out...or hurt him...whatever.

* * *

Elliot found a comfy pair of sweatpants and an old tee-shirt, from a Bon Jovi concert, in a bottom drawer and tossed them to Olivia, who scuttled off to the bathroom to change. He padded out of the master bedroom and plopped on his couch, picked up the remote and started flicking through channels.

"How long is Liv gonna be staying with us, Dad?" Dickie asked as he rolled the dice. He was currently kicking Lizzie's ass in a rousing game of _Clue_, and was _thisclose _to figuring out whodunit.

"As long as she needs to, kiddo. Why, you guys sick of her already?" Elliot asked, raising his glass of soda to his lips with a smug expression. He knew his son had a bit of a crush on his partner-slash-girlfriend.

The blonde girl to Dickie's left scooped the dice off of the table and took her turn. "No way, Dad. It's so cool having her around. She's been more of a mom than, well, _mom_. I'm just surprised she didn't move in sooner, after that little stunt you two pulled at Maureen's party and how mopey-dopey you were after it," Lizzie said with a hint of authoritativeness as she grabbed the envelope from the middle of the board. "Colonel Mustard, the library, with the rope."

"How the heck? I totally have more clues than you, you lousy cheat!" Dickie said dejectedly. "Dad, she cheated, she had to!"

With a roll of his eyes, he knew he had to play the mediating father. "Lizzie, did you cheat?"

"Absolutely not! I like to win fairly. Though, maybe next time he'll think before _he_ cheats!" she yelled as she pulled several extra cards out from under his side of the board. Elliot had to laugh at his twins. Bickering or not, they were closer than he could have ever hoped.

Olivia emerged from the bathroom, swimming in the clothes he'd given her. "Trying to make me over, El?" she said as she stood in front of him, the shirt slid off of one shoulder and hit her thighs and the pants were hanging so low on her hips it was amazing they were staying up at all.

"Um, no." He reached up, took her hand and pulled her down onto the couch, wrapping an arm around her. He couldn't control his excitement, seeing her in his clothes was such a turn on. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "You know, once the kids are asleep, I'm pretty sure we could find a way to get you out of those clothes if you're that uncomfortable." She laughed and swatted playfully at his arm. "Hey, remember when we danced in the park the other night?" he asked. She nodded vigorously, expecting him to say he'd planned another romantic excursion. He snuggled even closer to her, saying "I think you and I should be dancing in the sheets, Livvy."

There was that name again. Normally, she'd have him by the throat, begging for mercy, but something about the way he said he said it, something in his eyes when that name escaped his lips told her he'd given her that new name out of deep love. "Where did that come from, by the way?"

"Dunno," he replied with a shrug as he let his lips graze her neck slightly. "Does it bother you?" He asked with a concerned expression. "Nope, don't bother me," she said as her knee wiggled and her foot tapped. Elliot leaned over and wrapped the blanket from the top of the couch over her shoulders. "Cold?" he asked. "No, I'm restless," she whispered in a throaty growl, giving him a seductive grin. Elliot popped off of the couch. "Okay," he said, turning off the TV and heading toward the table where his young kids sat. "You two, time for bed. You have school in the morning."

"But, I'm winning! For real this time! I'm going down in blaze of glory," Dickie yelled, holding up his Colonel Mustard figurine. Lizzie smirked, "Yeah, sure you are, loser." She ripped the figure out of her brother's hand and threw it in the bag, put the pieces back in the box and carried the game with her as she kissed her dad on the cheek, ran over to the couch and hugged Olivia, then ran upstairs shouting random death threats at her twin brother, who chased her into her room with a squeal.

"Wow, El. Scared off your own kids, huh?" He turned at the sound of her voice, giving her a wicked grin. "I didn't scare them, I shooed them. There's a difference." He stepped toward her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. "I was sitting on that couch thinking to myself, 'How do I get you alone,' and then I realized I just needed to get rid of the kids as fast as possible." He squeezed, holding her closer, and kissed her. She was so lost in the sweet sensation that she was shocked and surprised when he lifted her into his arms. She let out a teeny yelp, smiling against his lips, as he carried her into his bedroom.

* * *

Captain Cragen had been on the phone with his federal contact for the past hour, and finally had the man convinced. A deal had been made, and a few badges would be traded, but Oliva and Elliot were closer to safe. Luckily, Cragen was a smart man and had recorded the last three conversations he'd had with the man he'd trusted, who he now believed was responsible for the explosion at Benson's place, and that was enough to get the feds to investigate. He looked around the empty bullpen, glancing sadly at the joined desks of Benson and Stabler, and promised them, silently, that no harm would come to them. The captain grabbed his coat and his keys and strutted out of the building with a determined smirk on his face.

* * *

Elliot could not believe what was happening. He had his hand held tightly over Olivia's mouth, the radio and the TV in the room were both on and quite loud, and he was still pretty certain that everyone in Manhattan knew what they were doing. "Livvy, baby, shh, the kids. Jesus," he cried. She bit down on his finger, just enough to force him to move his hand.

"Sorry, El. The girl can't help it," she said with a smirk. "You're one to talk," she purred as her nails dug into his back and dragged down his spine. "Fuck, El, if you were any louder that last time," she stopped when he thrust into her so deeply that she forgot her own name. Her eyes rolled back and her head lolled to the side. She looked drugged.

"You know the rule, Liv," he warned. With a smile and a low, devilish chuckle, she swung her head back and looked him in the eyes, scraping her nails up his back again, around his shoulders, sliding her hands around to cup his face, and gazed into his deep, blue eyes. "I love you, Stabler."

"Right back atcha, Benson." He kissed her, in a half-assed attempt at stifling their moans, but their dueling tongues and the sensations they were causing only added to the powerful orgasm that was stirring. He was moving, slow, deep, trying to hold on as long as he could. He trailed an arm down Olivia's body and lifted one of her legs up, just a bit, enabling him to go even deeper, something neither of them thought possible, and he earned another low, sultry moan from his beloved as she sucked lightly on the tip of his tongue. "God," he said, tearing his lips from hers. "I have waited a lifetime…but now that I've found you…oh, God, Liv," he paused, closing his eyes momentarily, opening them again to see hers staring back intensely.

"I know, I can't help myself, either," she said, meeting him thrust for thrust. "You're all in the world to me, El. You're it." She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him as she felt herself slipping, losing the last bit of control, clenching, writhing, and straining to hold on but failing.

"Feels like the first time," he whispered in her ear as he gave one final thrust, bringing them to a strong, simultaneous, wondrous, almost supernatural climax. He stilled, remained inside of her, at her request, until the last of her blessed aftershocks and tremors had subsided, until he, himself, had stopped vibrating. He rolled them over, flopping unelegantly in the middle of the bed, pulling the thick, warm, down comforter over their sweaty, spent bodies, wrapping them together in a tight cocoon.

She blindly shot an arm out to the side table, scooped up a remote control and hit several buttons until the TV and radio were silenced. "I can not believe…"

"Me either, baby," he said, running a hand through her hair. "We're perfect together." He gently lifted her chin to kiss her before snuggling close to her and drifting off to an impossibly peaceful sleep.

* * *

Fin looked at the computer, blinking and flashing and scrolling, with a question mark engraved on his face. Finally he relaxed a little and sat back. "Okay, I think I got somethin' for everyone, here. Carrie Underwood and Christina Aguilera for my Baby-Girl, Shalamar, The Beatles, Sara Evans, Bon Jovi for Stabler, Heart, Fergie, some Foreigner for the captain and that Danyo Cummings that Munch likes so much." He unplugged the device, wrapping the ear buds around it, and slipped it back into his coat pocket on his way into his bedroom.

He looked down and was very shocked to see that his bed was not empty. The woman rolled over and blinked up at him, slowly drifting back into consciousness. "Hey, I heard about Olivia's apartment. Is everything okay? Is she okay?"

"Uh, yeah. She's okay. She wasn't there," he said as his pants dropped to the floor. "What are you doin' here?"

"You gave me a key. I assumed that meant I could use it," she said with a smirk.

"Well, yeah, it did. It does, but I just figured you'd be workin' or somthin' or you'd call before you," he sighed. "I was sittin' out there by the computer for two and half hours. I could have spent all that time with you." He crawled into the bed and pulled the woman into his arms.

"I was sleeping. It wouldn't have been much fun, Fin." She pecked him on the lips and curled into his chest, sighing contentedly. "Goodnight."

"Night, Casey."

**A/N: Left this one with a happy ending, I think. And Fin deserves a lady-friend! Show him you're happy for him and Ms. Novak by clicking on that special green button? In the next chapter, Kathleen talks to her father about Maureen's fiancée, and Cragen nabs one of the three people trying to destroy our beloved Bensler!**


	6. I Want Your

**A/N: Thanks for sticking around, guys. We're rounding third base, here, not much more to go, but this will NOT be my last fic, as I have plenty of ideas for Liv and El. If you're an avid watcher, the man Cragen brings in will be familiar to you all. Happy reading, and remember a review to an author is like a cookie to a child. =) **

**DISCLAIMER: Plot, dialogue and narrative belong to me, and are protected, thanks, =) TStabler©, Characters belong to Dick Wolf, Wolf Films and NBC**

"Dad," Kathleen cried from the bottom of the stairs.

He was cooking breakfast, waiting for Olivia to get out of the shower. Dickie and Lizzie had set the table and were finishing some last minute homework. Maureen was prancing around the living room, holding up her left hand, waving like the queen of England.

"Yes, Pumpkin?" he asked his middle daughter, turning his head over his shoulder.

"Can we talk? It's kind of important. Privately?" Kathleen asked, her eyes pleading.

He snapped a finger at Dickie, who instantly took the spatula from his father's hand and started scrambling the eggs. "Sure," he said with a hint of worry in his voice, leading the young woman into his bedroom. "What's wrong, Katie?"

"I don't think Maureen should marry Jacob." Kathleen crossed her arms and pouted.

"Honey, I know you're concerned for your sister and you will miss her when she moves out…" he was cut off by the burst of laughter, cackling really, that erupted from his daughter.

"Not on your life, Dad! She could marry Freddy Krueger and move to Pluto for all I care, but I don't think she should marry Jacob," she said pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, "Because I think he's the one who tried to blow up Olivia." She handed him her phone, which was displaying an e-mail sent from Jacob to . Kathleen's e-mail address. The e-mail, however, was written to Kathy, who was KathStabler at the same URL.

"Forward this to me, Pumpkin," Elliot ordered as he handed the phone back to his daughter. "Thank you for showing this to me." He kissed her on the cheek and rubbed her shoulder.

"Dad, I'm not gonna lie, it's going to take some adjusting and I'm not calling her 'mommy' anytime soon, but I do love her." Kathleen clicked the send button and put her phone back into her pocket. "She's been a part of this family since I was six. She took me to Girl Scout meetings, and came to softball games, she taught me how to ride a horse two summers ago and how to wear makeup so it looks like I'm not so you won't yell at me. She did everything that mom didn't. It's not surprising that you finally took your head out of your butt and saw how wonderful she is," the young girl said as she kissed her father on the cheek. "I don't want anything to happen to her or you, and if Maureen's dope of a boyfriend had anything to do with it then I'm proud to help you bring the bonehead down." Kathleen nodded, giving her father a Stabler-grin, and ran out of the room to eat some eggs before they were all gone.

"Was I hearing things?" a meek voice asked from the bathroom doorway. Olivia, dressed and ready, had tears in her eyes, but she blinked them away, cleared her throat and sat on the bed next to Elliot.

"Nope, she really is all grown up," he said, looping an arm around Olivia. "She loves you. Go figure."

* * *

Fin and Munch were yelling at the man, determined to get answers, as the captain watched from the empty room just beyond the mirror. He walked into his squadroom, unable to watch them talk about a five-year-old's dismembered body anymore. He noticed the iPod, sitting innocently on Fin's desk, and decided that his detectives shouldn't be the only ones that get to play with this thing. "How does this thing work?"

"Here," Olivia said, rising from her seat, "Look, you move your finger around the circle to find the song like this, and then you push this button to play it." A soft, dulcet melody filled the room. Elliot felt calmer, Olivia took a deep breath and the tension that had been settled in her shoulders melted away.

"Hmm," Cragen said, staring at the blue thing in his hand, "I got it. So, I wanted to let you two know that Devlin from the bomb squad is on his way to pick up Jacob Hunter. I also have another person of interest that a friend of mine helped track down, the one who bought your father's gun, El. He picked it up at the NYPD's Yard Sale Fundraiser with a borrowed federal ID." Cragen took a step toward the two eerily peaceful looking detectives, folded his arms and said, "I don't want the two of you down here when they come in. You can wait upstairs, in the cribs or the conference room, but not down here."

Cragen expected a fight, especially from Elliot, who would usually beg to be in the same room with the man who tried to kill him and his woman, but, to Cragen's surprise, he simply sighed and said, "Okay, Cap. Just tell Munch and Fin to kill the bastard if they want." He glanced up at Olivia, narrowing his eyes slightly, and smiling woozily at her.

As he walked back into his office, the captain noticed Olivia, with a dreamy expression, had almost finished all of her paperwork when she caught Elliot's eye and smiled, her eyes heavy and her smile wide. Whatever this song was called, Cragen made a mental note to have it saved on a playlist somewhere. It had the most calming effect on people. He slammed the door behind him, waiting for the phone call from Devlin alerting him to the suspects' arrivals.

Fin and Munch came out of the interrogation room, Casey Novak right behind them, followed by an officer and the man they had been verbally attacking for the last twenty minutes. "Dr. Huang is going to have a field day with this guy," Casey affirmed.

Fin nodded, avoiding her eyes. "Well, Huang always did enjoy the really crazy ones."

Munch looked down at the iPod and shrieked. "Why is this thing on? Turn it off! Off!" He pushed the stop button, unplugged it and ran over to the coffee corner, pouring two cups of sludge and bringing them over to Benson and Stabler, who were fast asleep on their desks, hands intertwined, smiling.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, wake the hell up!" He set the cups down, shaking the two detectives out of their slumber.

"How? What? Huh?" Stabler was snapping out of it. Groggily, he blinked his eyes open, looking over at his partner and looking down, he pulled his hand out of hers roughly, which was enough to wake her up.

"What the hell? I kind of need those fingers," she snapped.

"Why were we sleeping?" Elliot asked, rubbing his eyes, sounding a bit like Dickie does in the morning.

"The iPod," Munch said. "It played some classical music and knocked you two out like broken light bulbs."

Fin had it. He slammed his hand down on his desk and picked up the iPod. "Munch, man, I'm gonna prove to you that the iPod is not controlling Benson and Stabler."

"Put it down, Fin!" Munch lunged for the device, but Fin swung out of the way and scrolled through the songs, finding one that would certainly prove that the iPod was nothing more than a music player. "How about a little George Michael, Munch? If this little thing does what you say it does then we're in for one hell of a show," Fin shouted as he ran away from Munch and pushed play.

Munch's eyes widened. He turned toward Benson and Stabler, who were watching Fin and Munch with very amused looks on their faces. "You two are a trip and a half," Elliot said, smirking.

"Yeah, say that in a few seconds when you want to rip Olivia's clothes off," Munch said, turning up the volume, desperate to prove he wasn't crazy. As the lyrics filtered through the air and landed on Elliot's ears, and the melody flowed through Olivia's, they stole a quick sideways glance at each other. Olivia's breath quickened and she folded her arms over her chest. "What? Are you nuts, Munch?" She tried to calm down, thinking of things like Munch in his underwear and the kid from third grade who used to pick his nose and fling the green blobs over to her, like little presents. No use. She wanted, no, _needed_ Elliot. Now.

"Why are we listening to this song?" Elliot asked, suddenly buttoning his suit jacket, thanking the Lord that it was long enough to cover his growing erection. "Something going on with you and Casey, Fin?"

"What," Fin nearly yelled as he felt the blush in his cheeks, "Wha...no...I...Munch has this theory..." he paused and glanced at Casey who smirked at him.

"And since when do we listen to Munch's theories?" Olivia asked, her left ring finger twitching as she unconsciously stepped closer to Elliot. She just needed to smell him, feel the warmth radiating from his body, then she'd be okay. Elliot was drawn closer to Olivia as well, stopping at a respectable distance, but he could smell the body spray, the lingering scent of her shampoo, the fragrance of her bath soap, if his nose was capable of having an orgasm, it would have one right now.

"Especially if they involve some kind of weird science fiction, Star-Trek, Wookie crap?" Elliot asked, hoping his voice sounded low and even, instead of hyper and crackly like the rest of his body felt.

With her heart beating rapidly beneath her stylish blazer, holding onto some composure, trying to stay in control, Olivia cocked her head to the side and said, "Get real, Munch."

"See, that's what I've been saying. Munch, obviously, they do not want each other's sex, are you happy? The iPod does not control them." Fin hit the stop button just as Captain Cragen came out of his office.

"All right, Devlin is bringing up the two_ lovely_ gentlemen. Benson, Stabler, upstairs."

No sooner had the words left his mouth did the two sprightly detectives bolt up the steps, practically barreling over each other, and run into the bunk room, slamming the door behind them.

"What's with them?" Cragen asked. No one said anything, but simply rolled their eyes and whistled. "Okay, I'll deal with you conspirators later. Now, we go in that tiny box and take on Jacob Hunter and Nick Ganzner."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Woah, woah. The reporter?" Munch asked.

"The one who dated Liv?" Fin questioned, shocked and nervous.

Casey nodded, then chimed in. "The one who almost destroyed her career. I guess he didn't get enough revenge when she broke his heart the first time, so he came back to do get more."

Cragen shook his head. "No, he was being paid this time. He's the middle man. They both are." He stormed into the first interrogation room as Devlin came in with the two men and their lawyers. Casey followed him in. Fin and Munch lagged behind, and before he completely exited the bullpen, Munch looked up at the shut door at the top of the stairs and wondered if, just maybe, they were doing what he _thought_ they were doing.

* * *

They were a mess. Shirts unbuttoned, hanging loosely off of their shoulders, pants off, his boxer-briefs were hanging from the post of a bunk across the room, her panties were just plain lost. He had one sock on, her shoes had managed to end up on separate sides of the room, one hanging desperately off of a top-bunk, as if it were considering the jump.

He had bite marks on his shoulder, because biting him was the only way she wasn't going to make any noise. She had three small hickeys on her right collar bone for the same reason. She was also going to have one hell of a bruise soon. "Shit, El. We're in a room full of beds and we couldn't even make it to one," she said as she moved to the left a bit, relieving her back from the agony of the doorknob's constant pressure.

He laughed and kissed her. "Nope," he said. "You drive me crazy, woman." He let go of her hips, letting her slide down his body, and he started to locate the rest of his clothes. They were probably going to be called downstairs soon, and they'd have an awful time explaining their current state of undress and the smell of sex permeating the cribs.

"I can't find my..." "Here," he said, interrupting her and tossing her blazer to her. "But, have _you_ seen _my._.." "Got it." His belt landed in the palm of his hand and she winked at him. "Now, I only have one..." He stopped her with a kiss as he placed her other black high-heel at her feet. "There ya go." He was going to walk away, but he fingered the edges of her shirt and, without hesitation, he buttoned it up for her, he fixed her collar and he finished it all off with a sweet kiss on her lips and precious one at the tip of her nose. "See, I know how to put them back on you, too."

"I didn't think it was possible," she whispered, more to herself than him.

He feigned shock and pretended to be insulted. "I resent that, Benson, you know there is more to me than just a sex..." She held her hand up, silencing him. "I meant, I didn't think it was possible for me to love you anymore than I already did. I was wrong. That was..."

Olivia was speechless. Such a simple act. Such a benign gesture. And it was more powerful, more endearing and more sentimental than any rose, box of chocolate or piece of jewelry ever could be.

"That's love, Livvy. Get used to it." She noticed he was fumbling with his tie and his shoes, so she walked over and tied his tie for him, kissing him twice, just as he did.

"We have to get you more clothes," he said, pulling her close to him. "I don't want you to go home."

"I got it covered, El. Munch and Fin brought back everything that was salvageable. It's in the evidence locker. I don't have to go back..."

"No, Liv, _new_ clothes. You can't interrogate bad guys smelling like a smokehouse," he laughed. "And I meant," he paused as he kissed the top of her head. "I don't want you leaving once they scrape the soot of your ceiling and rebuild your bathroom. Stay with me, baby. With us." He looked into her eyes, searching for her answer before she could give a verbal one, because he could always tell what she was thinking before she said or did it.

"Benson, Stabler," they heard Fin yell up the stairs. "The coast is clear. Come on down!"

Olivia grabbed the handle and pulled. "Liv?" Elliot choked out in a questioning manner. He needed a response before they went back down there. She simply smiled at him. A warm smile, meant only for him, and nodded. With a goofy grin and a sparkle in his eyes, he ushered her out of the door and followed her down the stairs in time to see Jacob and Nick being hauled away in cuffs.

"Was that who I think it was?" Olivia asked, shaking slightly. Elliot rested his hands protectively on her shoulders from behind her.

Fin sighed. "Yeah, Baby-Girl, but he claims he shot at you for a mix of personal and professional reasons. He was hurt and angry at you for actually finding someone you were happy with, who wasn't him, but he was also paid a hefty sum by someone else."

"Jacob, too, El. He was brought into your life a long time ago to keep an eye on you, Elliot, and when, uh, _something_ finally happened, he was to report it directly to his boss and await instructions," Munch affirmed.

"Were they working for the same person?" Elliot asked. " It was Kathy, right? She had Jake e-mailing her, we've got the proof..."

Cragen shook his head and interrupted him. "No, no, Elliot. They weren't working for the same person and neither one was doing this for Kathy. She was letting someone else use her family e-mail address, since she had one at work, and didn't consider herself a Stabler anymore."

Elliot's eyes widened, because he was certain that she would have something to do with this mess. "Who?"

Cragen shifted his weight and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Your mother."

**A/N: Ohhh, snap! Well, only three more to go! Keep an eye out for my new story, 'Mulligan' and as always, thanks for reading and reviewing! - TStabler©**


	7. Like A Tiger

**A/N: so, that last bit of information was a shocker, huh? Well, in this installment, we find out why. And the mystery of the iPod is one step closer to being solved! We also find out who the other bad guy is, but it isn't all that surprising. Or is it?**

**DISCALIMER: The only things that don't belong to me are the characters. They belong to Dick Wolf. Everything else is original TStabler©**

It was a restless, sleepless night for Elliot. He peered over at the woman next to him, and was amazed to see her eyes, wide open, staring at the ceiling. "No, I'm not asleep, you dolt," she said in response to the question he had not yet asked. He chuckled and pulled her closer to him. Her naked body felt amazing against his, her warmth comforting him, her softness calming him.

"I'm sorry, El. I feel like this is all my fault." She traced little heart shaped on his chest with her finger, absentmindedly, and sighed.

He dropped a kiss to her head, and then pulled her up to his level so he could kiss her full on the mouth. "This is not your fault, Liv. I knew my mother had issues, but I never thought she'd try to kill me."

"I think it was me she was trying to kill, babe." Olivia said with a raised eyebrow. "You read Jacob's statement. She thinks I'm trying to replace Kathy. I'm screwing with her family, fucking up her normalcy and she's pissed."

"My mother is bat-shit crazy, Liv." He scooped Olivia up into his arms, pulling her on top of him, and looked up into her heavenly dark-chocolate eyes. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Livvy. Kathy gave me my kids, and I will always be grateful to her for that, but, as long as I was with her, I never felt anything as powerful and as deep as what I feel for you."

Looking down at him, into his oceanic eyes, she kissed him, hoping she could force him to feel her emotions, because she was always horrible with words, and after what he'd just said, anything that would come out of her mouth would sound pitiful. With a swivel of her hips, she took him inside of her, for the third time that night, and moaned softly into his mouth, moving gently in a steady, slow rhythm, sinking deeper onto him with every sweet-tempered movement.

* * *

Fin looked at the car-radio, with the iPod connected to it, blaring out the Bee Gee's _"How Deep is Your Love"_ and smiled to himself, thinking about his plans with Casey for the following night. He was sitting in the unmarked van, Munch in the seat next to him, with three idiots from Major Case. Technically, they weren't supposed to be here, but the potential vics were members of their unit, their friends, their family, so the folks at the MCU let them sit-in on the stakeout. They hated the bastard they were waiting for anyway.

Cragen, Special Agent Dean Porter and Detective Waldman, from IAB, were in his office, trying to figure out who, exactly, you call when someone from IAB does something wrong. "I didn't think you could call Internal Affairs on Internal Affairs, especially since this is your Sergeant we're talking about," Porter said snidely to Waldman.

The IAB detective snorted and scoffed. "Why do you think _you're_ here, Porter? _No one_ in this unit likes you. You got away with murder, literally, and Benson and Stabler _both_ have reasons to believe when God was handing out hearts he accidently gave you a brick."

Cragen stifled a laugh and silently wished he'd said it himself. Porter was actually a suspect, until he'd been cleared. The man Cragen had been using to tail Porter was now the one they were after, the man they believe had given Jacob the explosives and made sure that it was Joe Stabler's gun that ended up in Nick's hands. Of course, being an IAB guy, he would be welcome in Bernie Stabler's place. They would have stories to share about "good ol' Joe" and could talk for hours about Elliot.

"Okay," Porter said, snapping Cragen out of his thoughts. "Why would he want to hurt Olivia? What reason would he have for being angry that she's with Stabler?"

"He could still be pissed off that she beat that murder charge, ya know? She stood up to him, talked back, made him angry. Benson and Stabler have been driving IAB nuts for years, skirting around policies and bending rules, and now, thanks to me, they're going to stay partners even though they're involved. A deal I made a long time ago, because I knew this would happen."

Waldman agreed. "Cragen's right. I don't think he necessarily has a crush on Olivia, I think he just wants to crush her. He's always had it in for the dynamic duo. Letting them get away with, probably the most impossible rule to break in the NYPD, sent him over the edge."

"Nick didn't give us his name, just his badge number. It's only circumstantial. He could claim someone stole his old ID. We're sitting on his office, though, hoping he's taking a meeting with Bernie, or maybe he'll lead the guys to Elliot's place. They gotta get something on him."

* * *

Five in the morning came too soon. The alarm blared and Elliot whacked it, sending it flying off of the bedside table. It was lying on the floor in six pieces, but at least the incessant beeping had stopped. Olivia laughed as she pulled herself away from Elliot and getting out of the bed, unabashedly walking into the closet in all her naked glory. Elliot, who witnessed this happen through his one half-opened eye, smirked as he, too, got out of bed. Avoiding the broken clock, he walked toward the closet expecting to add it to the list of places they'd had amazing sex, but was disappointed to see that she had already chosen her outfit and was heading out of the closet and into the bathroom. He attempted to follow her in there, too, but Olivia slammed the door behind her, right in his face.

He turned to walk away, but the door opened and her delicate hand grabbed his brawny, rugged arm, pulling him backward into the bathroom and slamming the door again. By six o'clock, the entire Stabler clan had been washed, dressed, and fed and they were ready to move. Olivia made sure everyone had their bus passes and shooed them out the door. She had also called Maureen's school and told them she'd be out sick today. The girl had just found out her entire relationship had been a sham, a scheme cooked up by her evil, crazy grandmother and some bad cop, to keep an eye on her father. She deserved a day off to lie in bed with Ben and Jerry.

They walked into the squadroom at six-fifteen, managing to be early despite having a houseful of crazy kids and a car that wouldn't start until you asked it nicely. Olivia poured herself a cup of the mud Munch had prepared, because it was better than nothing. She glanced at Munch, who was happily bobbing his head to the country song blaring through the iPod. It was some little diddy about a large, happy family, and the married couple had to squeeze in sex in the shower in the morning because one kid was sick and two were fighting and they both worked…and there was something about a tractor and a dog. She laughed, because aside from the tractor and the dog, that was kind of like the morning she and Elliot had, only they weren't married. She turned around and was about to sit at her desk to start her paperwork when she saw him.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Tell me this was all your idea! If you had anything to do with trying to hurt Elliot, I swear I'll rip your balls off and sell them to stoned college kids as hackey sacks," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Very small hackey sacks."

Dean Porter was stunned. Not because she threatened him. Not because she insulted the size of his testicles. But, because she didn't say, _"If you had anything to do with trying to hurt me and Elliot,"_ she had just said Elliot. She really didn't care what happened to her, as long as _he_ was safe. All of those IAB files they'd spent the night looking through weren't covering anything up, they were just carefully worded. "I didn't try to kill you, Olivia," he finally said. "But, we think we know who did."

Elliot leaped out of his seat and ran over to Olivia, putting an arm around her, more as a sign of ownership than protection this time, as he glared at Porter. "Who?"

"Ed Tucker. He went to see your mom, Stabler. Convinced her he could take Olivia out. She gave him the gun, Tucker made sure it was displayed at the fundraiser and made sure that Nick was the one that bought it. Even gave him his old badge so he could get it without a license. We're trying to find a paper trail on the explosives, but so far that's just sending us back to your mother."

"Jacob doesn't know a damn thing about putting bombs together or planting charges," Fin offered, "And I'm pretty sure your momma don't neither. It has to be Tucker. The man spent six years on the bomb squad before moving in to IAB."

Elliot pulled Olivia closer to him, not really caring where they were since everyone fucking knew they were a couple now, anyway. "Jesus Christ," he muttered into her hair. "My mother and the man whose job it is to protect our asses."

"It could be worse, El," Munch said as he scrolled through the songs on the iPod, trying to find one that would lighten the mood. "It really could have been Kathy."

As the unmistakable introductory notes to Survivor's _"Eye of the Tiger"_ came through the speaker, Elliot realized how true that was. If Kathy_ had_ been behind this, he would have been in deep shit. His kids would be in danger and Olivia would have been hurt, or worse, already. He was thankful that the two people who had physically attempted anything were sitting in Rikers, and the two people who plotting their next moves were being watched very closely by several units of the NYPD and now, strangely thanks to Dean Porter, the FBI.

The music filled the room and the words did not fall on deaf ears. Olivia looked at Elliot, and he smirked, his eyes twinkling, mimicking the sparkle that had been shining in hers, and, without saying anything, they understood each other loud and clear. This was not a problem. Just a challenge. One that they could face and certainly overcome. They had the will to survive, for each other, and that was enough.

"Cap," Elliot said, a determination and anger in his voice that hadn't been there in a while.

"Yeah, Elliot?" Cragen asked, a bit apprehensively.

"When you bring Tucker in, when you find the smoking gun that's gonna nail his ass, I wanna be in the pit with him." Elliot's eyes flashed with anger, turning clear blue, almost white. "I wanna be the one that crack's the confession out of him."

He wasn't sure whether it was out of the fear of saying no to Elliot at the moment, the pride he felt for his team for staying together and sane through this ordeal or his own hatred for Tucker, but Cragen nodded. "He's all yours, Stabler."

**A/N: Uh,oh! I think Elliot might kill him, unless there's a really fun song playing on the iPod…or is that all just a BIG coincidence? Click on the pretty green button and let me know what you think!**


	8. Locked Up

**A/N: Second to last, I'm sorry to see it go. Yes, there are more twists and turns, and maybe a surprise ending, but I promise, there's much more in store for the SVU crew. I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of time to write. =)**

**DISCLAIMER: They still belong to Mr. Dick Wolf and his company, but the writing (plot, dialogue and the other words) is, in fact, mine. Please, no takey! TStabler©**

"Huzza!" Munch yelled, as he slammed down his phone.

Olivia choked on her coffee, glaring at him. "What, Munch?"

"Got him! I had to dig, a lot, but the company that initially sold the explosives said they talked to a man, so clearly that wasn't Bernie, and then he said the man only left one way to contact him, an e-mail address. The shipping confirmation was sent to that e-mail address, which we traced back to an invalid ISN."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Elliot muttered. "Get the fuck on with it!"

"Hold your Catholic horses, Stabler! I called the operator of the server, who traced the original ISP and found out that it was once registered to Joe Stabler. When he retired, the man who moved into his office must have kept the ISP address from the port. Guess what department took over the old 2-7's homicide offices when your dad left," Munch said with a smirk.

"IAB," Elliot replied, his smirk now matching Munch's.

Munch nodded, leering over his sunglasses. "And who has taken up residency in Papa Joe's old office?"

"Tucker," Olivia said with conviction.

"And who's gonna kiss me?" Munch asked.

Olivia laughed and simpered at him. "I would Munch, but my lips are spoken for, and the man to whom they belong could kill you with his left thumb," she said with a wink.

"Don't think I wouldn't do it, either." Elliot added. "And no, I'm not kissing you, either. I'd kill you, Munch. Liv would _torture_ you."

Munch looked over at his partner who held up his hands in defense. "Don't look at me, you old quack. I ain't kissin' ya. I'll catch whatever disease you have that makes ya think that iPod has magic powers, and Kennedy lives on the moon with Elvis and Michael Jackson."

"I'll kiss you, you genius," a low, sultry voice from the doorway affirmed.

"Holy shit," Munch said, jumping out of his seat, running over and spinning the woman around in a big hug.

"I heard some lunatics were trying to off two of my best friends, so I had to beg for my job back. I'm helping Casey with all of the paperwork, and with four defendants, you're going to need two prosecutors," Alex explained.

Cragen smiled before he cleared his throat. "Well, I hate to interrupt happy reunions, but Fin, Munch, I need you to go with Porter and haul Tucker's ass in," he ordered.

Surprisingly, Tucker didn't put up a fight. He wasn't admitting his guilt, but he wasn't resisting arrest. He very calmly spat at Fin and very nicely called Munch anti-Semitic names. When they got back to the precinct, he very happily yelled, "You don't know who you're messing with. You SVU scumbags think you deserve special treatment because you volunteer, because you see the worst of the worst, well it ends now. You can't do this to me, you fucks!"

Fin and Porter threw him in an interrogation room, and they waited for Elliot to decide when he was ready to take him on. As Stabler rose out of his seat, evil seeping into his gorgeous features, he pulled Olivia into a passionate kiss and headed toward the room where the man who threatened his life was waiting.

Munch flicked a button on the iPod, Akon's _"Locked Up"_ rang through the bullpen, and the crew watched Elliot step into the pit, poised like a hungry lion.

* * *

He closed the door behind him, throwing a file down on the table. "I don't want you lie to me, I don't want any of your 'I'm IAB, I'll have your badge' bullshit, Tucker. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me why. Why the fuck you thought trying to kill Olivia was a good idea."

Tucker laughed. "You haven't taken your head far enough out of your ass for me to have a conversation with you, Stabler."

"You used my parents. You went to my emotionally and mentally unstable mother and you used my dead father's gun and old e-mail address? All to kill my partner and bring down SVU because, what, we broke a few rules?"

"A few? Try all of them, Stabler! You have no respect for police procedure, you have completely disregarded the standard conduct codes of this city, you could certainly dress a bit more professionally and to top it all off," Tucker sat back in his chair, seething. "You assholes think you're so beyond the law that it's acceptable for you to break policy number one on fraternization. It is highly illegal for you to be romantically involved with your partner in New York City, and the entire damn state is backing you two up. It's bullshit!"

* * *

"I think you're insane," Casey said.

Alex chuckled. "I think this is one of his only theories that makes sense, actually. At least it's not the 'government issued mind controlling Reese's Peanut Butter Cups' again."

Fin rolled his eyes. "Every time Baby-Girl would open a packet of 'em he'd leap onto her desk like he was saving her from a live grenade," he recalled. "This is serious though. He's purposely been trying to find songs that don't have any discernable plot or action verbs, or songs with scenarios that Liv and El couldn't possibly be in."

"I think you're insane," Casey said, looking intently at Munch.

"You said that already," Olivia laughed as she rose out of her seat.

The A.D.A looked over at Olivia from her spot on Fin's lap. "I know, but I felt the need to repeat it."

Olivia walked into the pit, just to see how things were going, as she laughed at the silly argument Casey, Alex, Munch and Fin were having in the bullpen. How could an iPod have any control over the actions and lives of human beings. Sure, music affected people's moods and the lyrics could stimulate and trigger their emotions, but no way could a _song_ literally control a situation.

She stood next to Cragen, looked through the two-way mirror and smirked. Elliot had Tucker shaking in his boots. Elliot turned for a minute and she thought she saw something flash in Tucker's jacket pocket as he shifted in his seat. But, no, it couldn't have been. Fin and Porter frisked him. They would have taken any weapons away from him. Still, maybe she should warn Elliot. She knocked on the glass lightly, but he didn't look up at the signal like he usually did. Unperturbed, she walked over to the door and turned the knob, confused as to why it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked, Cap." She twisted again, a little harder, but it still wouldn't open.

"Lemme try, Olivia," Cragen said. He yanked with all of his might but he couldn't open it either. Wait, what was this song called? Locked up?

"Munch, you've gotta change the song," Olivia yelled out into the bullpen as she tried, again, to open the door. She pulled and pulled, but the door wouldn't budge, and Elliot couldn't hear her knocking loudly on the glass.

* * *

"You could have filed complaints, or forced Cragen to split us up, you didn't have to try to kill my partner, Tucker!"

"Oh, give me a break, Stabler. Benson was never the target," Tucker yelled. He pulled a small caliber gun out of his breast pocket and aimed it directly at Elliot's nose. "It was you."

* * *

"Oh, my God," Cragen cried as he pulled out his phone and called for a bus, just in case, and searched the pit for something heavy to knock through the glass.

"Change the fucking song!" Olivia ran back out into the bullpen and yelled at Munch, "Who does it control? Me or him?"

Fin gasped, Munch looked surprised, Casey and Alex stared at her, wide eyed.

"What?" Munch asked.

"Me or him, dammit! It's important!" She ripped the iPod out of the man's bony finger's and hit the skip button, praying that whatever was playing next would get Elliot out of this mess.

"Both of you, I think." He shrugged and ran a hand through his graying hair. "It depends on the song, Benson."

Glowering eyes and a smirk firmly in place on her face, feeling stronger than ever, Olivia ran toward the interrogation room, her gun in her hand, praying she wasn't too late.

"Well, Munch, what's playing?" Alex asked, her voice shaky with nerves. He smirked, too, and looked toward the interrogation room as he replied, "Miley Cyrus. '_Supergirl_'."

**A/N: Was Liv too late? Did the song really cause the door to lock? How did Tucker get a gun past Fin and Porter? Only ONE more chapter. Click on the green button, you know you wanna...**


	9. Project Ends

**A/N: And now, I present, the final chapter of AIL. Hope you have enjoyed and thanks for reading! Look around the site for my other fics! There are plenty of 'em.**

**DISCLAIMER: Intellectual Property, exception of characters, belongs to TStabler© Characters belong to Dick Wolf. **

A single gunshot.

One lone shot.

The four people who were sitting in the sqaudroom ran into the pit, and gazed into the two way mirror in complete shock.

How could one bullet make such a mess? Where was he hit? How the hell did she manage to break the damn door? It was split in half, down the middle, both halves lying in the middle of the interrogation room floor. A result of the flying kick she'd given it to get into the room, perhaps?

Olivia still had her gun raised and aimed, just in case the asshole tried anything funny. His leg hung limply to the side, hanging loosely from the broken, bleeding kneecap. Tucker cursed loudly when he tried to move, but persisted, sliding closer to the gun he'd dropped.

"Fuck no," Olivia said, kicking the little pistol toward Elliot who, still stunned at the incredible show of power he'd just witnessed, picked it up and aimed it.

"So, Porter let you in here with a gun, then locked the door on his way out. What did you promise him, Tucker?" Olivia asked.

Admitting defeat, knowing when to quit, he answered. "Elliot's job."

Olivia backed up, lowering her gun, so two detectives who'd come in from Major Case could step into the room and haul the douchebag away. She turned and buried her head in Elliot's chest. He wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a tight, secure hug. "Come on," he said, peering down at her. "I wanna get out of this room."

As they made their way out of the pit into the bullpen, Kathleen, Lizzie and Dickie came bursting through the unit's entrance.

"I didn't steal it you weasel," Dickie cried. "That's why we're here!"

Lizzie screamed back at her brother, "Ugh, you took it, you booger! Just admit it!" Kathleen rolled her eyes and slumped in her father's chair.

Olivia and Elliot looked at the twins and crossed their arms, each raising an eyebrow, giving identical looks of disapproval to the young ones. "Explain," they said together.

Taking a deep breath, Lizzie started speaking. "Dickie took my science fair project. I rigged my iPod to emit powerful electromagnetic waves, tuned to a specific frequency."

Munch cleared his throat. "And, what do these electromagnetic waves do, Lizzie, dear?" He smirked at Fin, and grinned proudly.

"I'm hoping, if I have the wires crossed correctly, that they'll force Dickie and I to physically act on the emotions of the music."

"You two?" Alex asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes. I mean, we wouldn't play any love songs! Gross! But, in order for the experiment to work, the physical and emotional chemistry of the two people has to be powerful enough to demand an intense connection, wherein the two share an almost telepathic bond." She looked at the radio and thought of a metaphor. "They are like walkie-talkies, tuned to the same channel. It's called an I-Function boundary gap. It's a scientific phenomenon only found in twins and, some scientists believe, soulmates."

"Soulmates, you say?" Olivia asked with a brilliant smile.

"Yes, Liv. I do not have a soulmate, since I am only twelve. I do, however, have a twin. I have to prove this theory by Friday, and just because he doesn't want to be forced to do the Macarena or cry when the song tells him to, he stole..." she was interrupted when Fin tossed the blue device to her. She caught it nimbly in her hands. "My iPod! Thanks, Uncle Fin!"

"Lizze, that thing works," Munch told her. "The songs that have played on this thing have been making your father and Olivia behave rather oddly. In fact, _"Supergirl"_ made Benson break a door. Wanna see?"

Lizzie smirked at the man in front of her. "Are you sure she didn't break the door because someone was threatening to kill my father?"

"But you just said," Munch began, but rolled his eyes and slumped in his chair, giving up the battle. "Oh, never mind." The room erupted in laughter.

"Uncle Munch, while I do not doubt that the waves emitted from the iPod did affect Liv, making her feel a sense of strength as the song played, I'm pretty positive she could have busted the door even if you'd have been playing "_Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"_. I know her."

"Hey," Dickie shouted. "Aren't you forgetting something, Little Miss Know-It-All?"

Lizzie placed a finger on her chin and looked up, thinking. "No, I don't think so. Apparently, Liv and dad were unwilling, yet perfect, test subjects. I can ask Uncle Munch for observation reports and they will give me personal accounts of their experiences."

"I meant, you're forgetting to apologize, you bird-brain! I didn't steal your iPod. You left it in here, it's been here the whole time!" Dickie folded his arms and tapped a foot. He looked up and raised an eyebrow, pressing his lips together. He looked like a very small Elliot.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, oh bone-headed one. Please, forgive me for jumping to the wrong, albeit very likely, conclusion."

"Thank you," the young Stabler boy said, huffing. "By the way, Dad, have you told Liv you didn't have anything to drink at Maureen's party, yet?"

Olivia turned on her heels, facing her partner, with a very frightening expression on her face.

"No, Richard, I have not," Elliot said, purposely using his son's whole name. "Liv, honey, wow, that is not a happy face," he said as he watched her storm closer to him. "I know...Livvy, listen, I thought, if you thought I was drinking, and you rejected me, then we could both just laugh it off, but," she shut him up.

Dickie and Lizzie covered each other's eyes. Kathleen's mouth hung open for a moment before she laughed and yelled, "Go, Dad!" Munch and Fin whistled. Casey and Alex clapped. Captain Cragen smiled and chuckled. That was one hell of a kiss.

"Thank God," she said when she finally pulled away. "Those two weeks, thinking you only kissed me because you drank yourself stupid, they killed me. Now, I know that..."

"It was all me, baby," he said with a smile.

Kathleen snapped her fingers toward her younger siblings. "You can open your eyes, you immature little goobers, they've finished examining each others tonsils."

"Good," Lizzie said, removing her hands from Dickie's face. "I'm hungry. Can we go for burgers?"

Olivia looked around, at the full squadroom, and felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "What do you say, El? Kernigan's? We can pick up Maureen on the way," she suggested.

"Sounds good," Elliot complied. He looked back at his friends and added, "As long as you guys meet us there. You, too, Cap. Celebratory dinner."

Cragen smiled as he grabbed his coat and hat off of the hooks in his office and closed the door behind him. "Elliot, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"So, Lizzie," Munch started, "What would have happened if I would have played something like _'Get Me To The Church On Time'_ or _'White Wedding'_ or _'It's Your Wedding Day'_ on that thing?"

As the entire group shuffled out the door, Lizzie answered him. "Well, Uncle Munch, Daddy and Liv would probably have flown to Vegas, or woken up a judge in the middle of the night and ran to City Hall."

"Can I see it for a sec..."

"NO!" Nine voices yelled at him in response.

"Geez, not like it isn't gonna happen anyway, but we had to wait ten years for them to kiss, I wanna walk into their wedding, not have to be rolled into it in a wheelchair."

He flicked off the light and the sounds of their bickering and laughter faded down the hallway, silencing completely when the elevator doors closed around them.

**A/N: END CREDITS Thanks for reading! Hope it was worth it for you. I had so much fun writing this one! Reviews are like flowers: I'm highly allergic but God, I love them!! **


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